Names
by Pluviophile15
Summary: I give you another piece of fluff, written from the bottom of my heart. Warning for adorableness and family bonding inside. Rated 'T' for 'Too much cute'. Also, Lance is kind of a jackass in this one, but he's good in the end. (One shot.)


**A/N: If any of you have read my other one-shots, y'all know by now how much I love fluff. So, here I am again with another fluff piece. Tell me what you think in the comments! Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

"Are you sure that's what it is?"

"Yes, Lance, I'm sure. It says it right here on the file," Pidge answered.

Lance smile turned mischievous.

"Oh, we're going to have some fun with this!"

xxxxxxxxxx

They found everyone in the main room.

Coran and Allura were with Shiro, pouring over some kind of map on the holoscreen and debating over where they should land to refuel and restock. They were getting low on supplies, and they needed to find a few parts for the castle. The ship had gotten a bit beaten up from a few stray comets a couple of quintants ago.

Hunk was sitting in his yellow chair, watching something on his own holoscreen. Most likely a movie. Pidge had figured out how to access Earth movies a while back and they had all watched some of them together for 'paladin bonding time'.

Keith stood by the window, his arms crossed and in a relaxed stance. He was looking out into space with a faraway look in his purple eyes. He looked peaceful. But not for long.

Lance gave Pidge an evil smirk, eyebrows wiggling. She shook her head.

"Lance, no!" she whispered, reprimanding.

Lance nodded slowly, the smirk growing wider.

"Lance, yes!" he whispered back.

"He'll get mad!"

"It'll be fine!"

Pidge growled frustratedly at Lance and threw her hands up in the air.

Lance snickered. He tiptoed over and stood beside Keith.

Keith sighed as he realized who was beside him.

"What is it, Lance?" Keith asked in a monotone voice, not even turning toward him.

"Oh, nothing," Lance replied with fake innocence. "How's the view?"

Now Keith turned to Lance, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Fine."

It was more of a question than a statement.

Lance hummed thoughtfully.

"Good... Okay, well you have fun with that..."

He turned away from Keith walking a little ways away before he said, "Ronnie."

Keith stiffened. He turned to Lance.

"What did you call me?" he asked, voice near a deadly whisper.

Lance's blue eyes were glittering with amusement now, and his mouth was still twisted in a grin.

"Nothing...Ronald."

He began walking away again.

"How did you figure that out?" Keith said.

Yep. Pidge was right. Definitely mad.

Lance stopped. He turned back.

"Figure what out?" He tilted his head like a puppy and put on a mask of faux confusion.

Keith marched over to him. He poked his finger at Lance's chest.

"You know what I'm talking about!" he whispered harshly.

Lance pretended to think. "Nope! No idea!"

Keith's face twitched with barely controlled anger. "Maybe this will jog your memory."

Lance didn't even realize he was being pulled into a headlock before it was too late.

"Hey-"

Lance struggled, but Keith wouldn't let go for anything.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere until you answer me," Keith said.

All eyes were on the pair now.

"What's wrong?" asked Shiro.

"He found something of mine, and I'd like to know where he got it," Keith spat.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind." Keith quickly let go of Lance and stepped away from him, nervous at the attention. "It's not important."

Lance stood up to his full height, looking over Keith with a scrutinizing eye.

"No one else knows, do they? You haven't told anyone," he laughed.

Keith blushed, whether with rage or embarrassment, it was unclear. Most likely it was both.

"Told anyone what?" asked Hunk. He had made his way closer to them, and was now standing next to Pidge.

Keith crossed his arms and looked away, not answering.

Lance snickered.

"That Kei-"

He was silenced by Keith slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Don't even think about it," he growled.

Lance recovered from his momentary shock and smirked behind Keith's hand. His suspicions had been confirmed.

Lance pulled on Keith's hand, removing it from his mouth. Keith didn't have any time to react as Lance shouted, "That Keith's middle name is Ronald!"

Everything stopped.

Then, with an almighty roar, Keith threw himself at Lance.

The two tangled, and Lance had to defend himself from Keith as they wrestled.

Shiro finally had to pull them apart.

Keith still lunged at Lance, murder written on his face. Shiro held him back.

"Guys, come on. Stop. This is ridiculous!" Shiro tried to be the voice of reason.

Keith wasn't listening.

"How did you find it?!" he shouted at Lance.

"Keith!"

Keith stopped, at last hearing Shiro's words.

"What?" he snarled.

"Calm down. It doesn't matter how he found out. The name Ronald isn't that bad."

Lance snickered.

Keith growled back.

"Lance, apologize," Shiro said sternly.

"What?" Lance asked, incredulous. "I didn't do anything! Keith was the one that attacked me!"

"That doesn't matter. You violated Keith's privacy. Apologize."

"Fine," Lance grumbled.

His eyes changed from stubbornness to remorse as he turned to Keith.

"I'm sorry, Keith. I'm sorry I laughed at your name. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he said, voice softer and full of shame.

"Keith," Shiro prompted.

Keith let out a deep-throated growl before he begrudgingly accepted Lance's apology.

"And...?"

Keith sighed.

"I'm sorry for attacking you and getting mad."

He did sound sincere, at least.

Shiro was satisfied then, and he let go of them.

Pidge stepped forward then, seeming guilty. Her eyes were cast down to the floor, not looking at Keith.

"Um... Keith, I'm sorry, too," Pidge said.

Keith's expression faltered, confusion flitting across features.

"I was the one who found out your name," she explained, nervously pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"I didn't really mean to, I just found your initials in an old news article about the Garrison saying that a new group was accepted into the school, and your initials were listed. I wasn't snooping, I swear. I was just looking for any clues about my brother."

Keith's face softened then, looking equally guilty as Pidge and Lance for lashing out so harshly. He wasn't really mad, only extremely embarrassed.

He sighed again. This team was going to be the death of him.

"I'm sorry, too, Pidge. Both of you," Keith acknowledged Lance as well.

"I shouldn't have gotten so angry," he admitted. "I just... I hate my name."

"It's not that bad," Shiro said.

Lance was trying his darned hardest to hold back a smile at that, but a little smirk broke through.

Keith scowled.

Hunk interrupted before another fight started.

"Don't sweat it, Keith," he said. "My middle name is Theodore."

Keith frowned.

"It's not as bad as Ronald," he pointed out.

"My middle name is Charles!" Lance proudly exclaimed.

Keith's frown deepened and he crossed his arms, clearly annoyed and simmering at Lance's fortune of getting a nice name.

Pidge saw this and felt another twinge of sympathy for Keith.

"My middle name is Gertrude," she said, embarrassed.

"Gertrude?" Lance stifled a little giggle behind his hand.

Pidge looked at him with a deathly laser glare that shut him up quickly.

"I never really liked my middle name either, and I never told anyone because I thought they'd laugh." She pointed at Lance. "Case and point."

Lance gave a little pout at her words, but knew he fully deserved them.

"But I realized that it doesn't really matter what the others think, as long as you like it," she concluded.

"There," Shiro said. "You were worrying over nothing. Everyone has some sort of embarrassing name or nickname, and it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Lance, the butthead that he was, grinned evilly like the Grinch, a new mischievous air surrounding him.

"Oh, really, Shiro," he drawled. "Everyone?"

Shiro reddened. Of course Lance would call him out.

"Um, well, n-not everyone, I mean, obviously, some people don't have middle names," he stammered.

"Ah, yes. You're Japanese," she said, as if it explained everything.

Shiro nodded, looking relieved.

Everyone else looked confused.

Pidge sighed, then explained.

"Japanese don't typically have middle names. Sometimes they do, but it's rare."

"So you don't have a middle name?" Hunk asked.

"Nope. It's just Takashi Shirogane," Shiro said. "Shiro is one of my nicknames. It's easier than Takashi."

Lance hadn't lost his smile. In fact, it seemed heightened now.

"One of your nicknames?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow and a glint in his eyes.

Shiro's eyes widened, realizing his mistake. He blushed again.

"What is it, Shiro?" Lance was actually mildly curious. Who knew their macho leader had an embarrassing nickname?

All attention was on Shiro, making made him shift from foot to foot.

He ducked his head and mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?" Lance asked innocently.

The blush had crept through his whole face, and Shiro was fairly certain that it was going to burst into flames at this point.

He sighed and lifted his head. There was no worming his way out of this.

"Shi-Shi," he said, and ducked his head again.

There was silence.

Then, laughter rang out from, of all people, Keith.

"Shi-Shi!" he gasped, tears rolling down his face.

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were laughing as well, doubled over and clutching their sides.

Finally, the laughter died down, and tears were wiped from eyes.

"I guess I'm not the only one with a bad name," Keith said with a chuckle.

"Sorry, Shiro," Hunk apologized.

Shiro waved a hand.

"It's fine, Hunk," he said. "I've come to terms with it now. My grandma started calling me that when I was little and it stuck. I still get embarrassed about it sometimes, though."

Lance snorted. "Obviously."

Pidge have him a look that clearly stated that he was the cause for all of this, and he had no reason to make fun of Shiro.

The Cuban boy cringed, feeling slightly ashamed at himself.

"I'm sorry, too, Shiro. I shouldn't have pried," he said remorsefully.

Shiro smiled fondly at Lance, shaking his head.

"It's fine," he repeated. "We're all friends. It was bound to come out sooner or later."

"I'm sorry anyway," Lance said.

"Apologies accepted then," Shiro said brightly. "Now that that's over with, let's get back to work, Paladins!"

As everyone went back to their stations, Keith walked up beside Shiro.

"I'm sorry, too. I was only just complaining about being laughed at, and then I turned right around and laughed at you."

"Keith, it's okay." Shiro let out a laugh of his own. "It is a terrible nickname, and I don't blame you for laughing. I've laughed at it, myself," he admitted.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Keith's mouth. He didn't feel so bad anymore.


End file.
